In this arduous struggle, the memories and lessons of Meena’s glorious life are always with us

Allow us to first of all thank you all for attending the event commemorating the martyrdom anniversary of Meena, the greatest woman of the recent history of Afghanistan who sacrificed everything for her people and country.

27 years ago, a joint conspiracy between Ikhwani enemies and Russian lackeys dealt RAWA and the unfortunate women of Afghanistan, the most horrific blow possible. On this dark day, the filthy hands of these murderers strangled our beloved Meena’s throat, and deprived our homeland from a wise revolutionary leader.

The enemies physically eliminated Meena, but could not erase her freedom-seeking revolutionary thoughts, and the path she drew with her blood; and over the years, their decaying corpse has had to take worse blows from Meena’s RAWA.

We have gathered today to learn from the exemplary values Meena set for us, and renew our oath to continue on her path with utter resilience.

Meena’s greatness lay in several exclusive qualities she had.

She was the first woman in Afghanistan who thought about creating an independent organization for women and in just the tender age of 23, established the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. She believed that Afghan women were one of the most oppressed sections of the society due to the heavy burden of poverty, widespread oppression and gender discrimination, and dominance of the horrifying feudal culture and patriarchy. Therefore, they had a high capacity to gain revolutionary awareness and be practically involved in this struggle, and were capable of bringing about deep change in the society by playing a vital role.

Meena was a woman who staunchly believed in revolutionary thoughts and actions. It was due to this unwavering belief that she passionately and firmly raised the banner of struggling against the two superpowers of that time, Russia with its Khalqi and Parchami stooges, and the fascist US with its fundamentalist mercenaries, and remained faithful to her cause till she was slain in cold blood.

Although Meena loved her children and family deeply, she did not put anything above her political struggle. She was directly involved in the difficult and dangerous struggle with her personal life never being a hindrance to her activities, and she did not fall into the trap of extravagance or banality. She even left her education to pursue her political activities. This is why today Meena is one of the most successful women of Afghanistan’s history in her struggle and leadership.

Meena’s greatness cannot be limited to the points mentioned above. Meena is larger than all that. The most valuable legacy our dear Meena left us was this organization, an organization that never compromised its political stands; never feared the threats of the bloodthirsty criminals; an organization that no amount of propaganda and insult could discourage it from participating in the revolution and on the path of its great leader; an organization which spoke not through intellectual words but through the fiery trenches of battles against the enemies; that always attacked the enemies and caused their uproar, despite countless hardships and losing several members. It is not without reason that today anybody who takes a firm stand against crimes without fear or compromise, is instantly called a RAWA member by the fundamentalist murderers and their sell-out intellectuals.

Fellow strugglers,

The biggest lesson Meena taught us is this:

Never and under no circumstances shall we be silent. We should use every opportunity for mobilizing people and raising their awareness, and never cease to subject our enemy to blows. The banner of independence, freedom, democracy and social justice should not fall to the ground under any circumstances. We should forbid our enemies their peace.

If we believe ourselves to be the rightful heirs of Meena’s great thoughts we should not remain oblivious of her aims and aspirations. Especially in the current situation when our nation, which had not recovered from the ten-year aggression of the Russians, has had to face the 12-year occupation of the US imperialism; US and NATO forces have invaded our country under the bogus slogans ‘democracy’, ‘war on terror’, ‘securing women’s rights’; and the US and its allies have supported and relied upon the most criminal beings on the face of this world, ranging from the murderers of the Northern Alliance to the most filthy fundamentalist stooges of Iran and Pakistan; all of which have led to the devastation of our nation and people once again.

Martyred Meena was the first woman of our land who called the Islamic fundamentalists more dangerous than the Russian fascism and started struggling against both simultaneously. She repeated many times that fighting against the fundamentalist mercenaries of the US and its allies, was not separate from the struggle against the Russian invaders. She recognized the devious nature of the fundamentalist criminals very well. She had predicted that if the fundamentalists took power in Afghanistan, our people will be faced with a nightmare much darker and worse than the one they faced under the Russian traitors. The situation of the country after April 28, 1992, proved her prediction correct.

The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan believes that the people of Afghanistan are faced with the US occupiers and its allies as the foreign enemy, and the fascist fundamentalists as the indigenous enemies. To free our homeland from the claws of these atrocious criminals, we should fight and give sacrifices like Meena.

For this purpose, and attaining freedom, democracy, social justice, our people have no other choice but to unite, mobilize, and stage a vast uprising. And naturally the important half of the masses in this uprising will be women.

In this arduous struggle, the memories and lessons of Meena’s glorious life are always with us and it will be a model for us. We once again take an oath by Meena’s sacrifice that till the attainment of her progressive and moral aspirations, we will not stop our struggle and efforts on this path.